2 bananas I picked up at the gas station :(I am not good at this remembering to pack lunch thing. At all.

Fee - i don't know where ya live, but if it's cold where you are you can always put your lunch in your car the night before. i do this on cold nights. sometimes i'm a bit of a zombie in the morning and just forget.

It's only cold enough to do that a few days a month, really. Even so, I'm just so incredibly lazy and forgetful I don't know if I could motivate myself to bring it out the night before. If I'm not hungry I'm not thinking about food. I need to just buy a bunch of frozen meals and keep them at the office or something.

:-) Ok. At the start of the week, I soak some large size TVP (preferably strips) in hot water with soy sauce, preferably overnight. When well soaked, I squeeze out the excess moisture. The squeezed TVP goes into a non-stick frying pan, along with some oil and a lot of spices. Traditional kebab spices are spicy paprika, black pepper and a little nutmeg and cinnamon. I like to add some cumin. Alternatively I mix in harissa or mild hot sauce. I fry the TVP over medium heat until it's nicely browned. When cooled, I store the fried TVP in a plastic container in the fridge or freezer.

When it's time for me to pack my lunch, I fill some pre-baked pitas with the TVP and garlic mayo. At work, I put the filled pitas in the sandwich maker or toaster until they are heated and crispy. They can be heated in the microwave, but then you will get a pliable pita (not a bad thing, just different). I might also bring some lettuce to add a 'green element' to my lunch.

Another variation to the pita-in-toaster theme: fill with apple slices and a little cinnamon. When heated, this will produce an instant pita-apple-turnover thingy.

EVERYONE, if you haven't made these. get to the kitchen and do it NOW!! yum-my!

I just ordered a Ms. Bento, so that I can pack multiple hot foods for lunch. This means I now have five different lunch containers -- Laptop Lunch, Ms. Bento, two thermoses, and a salad thing. I should probably either stop buying these, or just decide that I'm collecting them now.

Today, it was sprouted brown rice, last night's roasted carrots and beets, a mixture of greens, black beans -- all topped with Frank's Red Hot. Followed by a couple of sweet, tiny clementines. Then followed by some leftover rye crackers from the office cupboard, topped with leftover Artichoke Spinach Chickpea spread / dip (adapted from Robin Robertson's Quick Fix Vegan). Then another clementine. Apparently I am hurrying to bulk up for a late hibernation.

I made a roasted veggie sandwich for myself - I slathered the end of my sun-dried tomato pesto on a whole wheat roll with leftover roasted portabello, roasted red pepper, lettuce and tomato. AMAZING. If pine nuts weren't so stinking expensive, I would keep that pesto in my fridge always for a sandwich spread.

_________________"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave" - Mahatma Gandhi

I made a roasted veggie sandwich for myself - I slathered the end of my sun-dried tomato pesto on a whole wheat roll with leftover roasted portabello, roasted red pepper, lettuce and tomato. AMAZING. If pine nuts weren't so stinking expensive, I would keep that pesto in my fridge always for a sandwich spread.

they are crazy expensive lately. if you have a Trader Joe's around you (or happen to visit some place where there is one) pick some up there. they have a pretty decent sized bag for just $7!

since i start work at 5, i usually have my meal break at 9am, so my lunch was at home after work - i steamed some rice to have with leftover banchan - sesame spinach and oi kimchi (cucumber kimchi) and cooked up some of my homemade kimchi mandu (potstickers). yum!

_________________when you realise how perfect everything is, you will tilt you head back and laugh at the sky. -buddha

I made a roasted veggie sandwich for myself - I slathered the end of my sun-dried tomato pesto on a whole wheat roll with leftover roasted portabello, roasted red pepper, lettuce and tomato. AMAZING. If pine nuts weren't so stinking expensive, I would keep that pesto in my fridge always for a sandwich spread.

they are crazy expensive lately. if you have a Trader Joe's around you (or happen to visit some place where there is one) pick some up there. they have a pretty decent sized bag for just $7!

That's amazing. Thanks for the tip!

_________________"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave" - Mahatma Gandhi

Wow, you all make me feel really bad about my lunches. Between taking care of the kid first thing in the morning and getting ready for morning yoga and trying to find something halfway decent to wear to work, I barely have any time in the morning to do anything food-related. If I have time, I'll make a pb&j - sometimes we have leftovers from the night before that'd heat up well in a microwave (we don't have one at home, so pasta dishes are always good to bring). But most of the time I end up going out to get a soup and salad at the local place, which is way too pricey because we're a tourist town. In the summer, there's this great little shack of a place that only locals go to and I can get the best salad from their salad bar for $5 - nuts, tofu, artichokes... it's awesome.)

Wow, you all make me feel really bad about my lunches. Between taking care of the kid first thing in the morning and getting ready for morning yoga and trying to find something halfway decent to wear to work, I barely have any time in the morning to do anything food-related. If I have time, I'll make a pb&j - sometimes we have leftovers from the night before that'd heat up well in a microwave (we don't have one at home, so pasta dishes are always good to bring). But most of the time I end up going out to get a soup and salad at the local place, which is way too pricey because we're a tourist town. In the summer, there's this great little shack of a place that only locals go to and I can get the best salad from their salad bar for $5 - nuts, tofu, artichokes... it's awesome.)

i hear ya, flavabean. we don't have children and right now i'm in school + fulltime work, so i sleep in because i'm up late in night classes. i try and pack my lunches the night before now. i used to take morning yoga classes though. i miss them. but i look forward to getting back into them once i graduate. is there any way you can find some time to lay out your clothes for work the next day the night before? that might help you out a little perhaps!

usually on sunday nights or afternoons i'll make a big dish or two (or sometimes three!) and use it for food throughout the week. like last night we had tacos - so i made a ton of extras of everything. i also cut up a bunch of veggies for snacks and cooked up a huge batch of spanish rice to eat throughout the week with chips and hot sauce and tofutti sour cream. but with a kid i can imagine you just don't have a ton of free time. i'm sorry!

A container of plain yogurt with frozen blueberries and strawberries + a spoonful of strawberry freezer jam I made last June, a container of cabbage slaw and some carrot sticks, a banana, a pita with roasted red pepper hummus.

_________________Did you notice the slight feeling of panic at the words "Chicken Basin Street"? Like someone was walking over your grave? Try not to remember. We must never remember. - mumblesIs this about devilberries and nazifruit again? - footface